The Bees and Butterflies
by ambriosa
Summary: Everyone knows that Hikaru and Kaoru are the two hottest first-year boys. Arisu, a model for the Hitachiin family, has had a crush on Kaoru since the beginning of time. Can love happen? KaoruXOC
1. Secret Valentine

Hey, this is my first Ouran fanfic so please review and tell me what you think! This is going to be KaoruXOC and TamakiXHaruhiXHikaru. It might change later on.

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**The Bees and Butterflies**

Kaoru Hitachiin sat three rows and four seats to the left from the exit of the classroom. That also meant that he sat two rows and two seats away from where she sat. To Kaoru's left was the smartest boy in the entire first-year class, Haruhi Fujioka. Sitting in front Haruhi was Kaoru's older twin brother, Hikaru Hitachiin. All three of them had the envious combination of brains and beauty that only boys and girls could sit back and scratch their heads over Mother Nature's unfairness.

Kaoru didn't seem to have that many friends. But of course, when your friends are the smartest, most handsome boys in the entire school, there's not much more that one would need. However, he didn't seem to be good friends with any of the girls here. Some people said he and Hikaru were probably still trapped in the phase where boys were only friends with other boys and girls could only play house.

It made her itch with anxiety of how no girl was able to break into that circle of friends—the popular Ouran High School Host Club in which countless girls invested their time and money to being charmed by boys they imagined one day to be their faithful husbands.

Granted, she never stepped foot into that dreadful after-school activity but there was no other way she could approach Kaoru on her own.

To obtain a clearer picture of this situation, it's best to understand who the admirer was, admiring and wishing she would one day be Kaoru's girlfriend. Of course, every single girl in the first-year class hoped to one day be Hikaru or Kaoru's significant other, but she insisted to herself that she was different.

Arisu Sasaki, in Kaoru's eyes, was just like all the other girls in the class. Arisu wasn't quite sure when she began to like Kaoru. She was convinced it was love at first sight. Ever since she and Kaoru first met—she was pretty sure that was Kaoru—every word she had ever heard him say (mostly it was to someone else other than her) she remembered it and treasured it with all of her heart.

Confessing was not an option though. Her best friend confessed to Hikaru. Her enemies confessed to him—or was it Hikaru? At least half of her friends tried to break into their circle. All of them failed. Every failure made her wish fall further and further away. Every failure made her wish that Kaoru never existed so she wouldn't feel so tormented like this.

"Arisu, don't fall asleep," Tanaka-sensei snapped. She saw Hikaru and Kaoru and half of the class that was in front of her turn their heads and smirk, snicker, or whatever crude humiliating laugh they could come up with. Arisu stared down at her paper, her face turning red. Her notes on the left side of the page turned into lines as they got closer to the right.

"Sorry," she said quickly. Renge, who sat to her left, saw her reaction and quickly scribbled a paragraph onto a sheet of paper. She tossed it to her when Tanaka-sensei finally resumed to writing on the board. Arisu read the note.

_Did something happen? Is it perhaps that the life of glitz and glamour has finally taken its toll upon a young aspiring girl? Is it that this girl wants more? That life extends beyond the latest fashion, the hottest boys, and the highest grades? COULD IT BE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR LOVE?_

Arisu glanced at Renge before writing her response. She never understood Renge's obsession for Kyoya.

_What the hell is this?_

Renge responded with another paragraph.

_It's love, dear. It's the dream of every young girl. The day that Prince Charming comes to save us from the shallow life of popularity and facial beauty! Is that it? Is that what you are waiting for? Why didn't I see this before??? How romantic!!! Who is it? WHO IS IT?_

Arisu almost laughed aloud but covered her mouth, which translated to her body trembling like she was on the edge of having a seizure. Some of the people sitting around her looked at her strangely.

_It's nothing._

Renge obviously refused to take that for an answer. She flicked her perfectly straightened brown hair behind her, the way an actress would, and wrote like an angry banker.

_OMG. It's someone in the host club isn't it? How do I know? I know everything!! Go with me after school to the host club!!! You've never gone before, right? You have fantasies too, right? These boys are IT, Ari!! Please go with me?? You've never gone before!_

Arisu's heart sank. Was she that predictable?

_OK, just once. If I don't like it, I'm leaving._

Renge giggled aloud, which finally attracted the attention of the entire classroom. Tanaka-sempai frowned at Renge who in return stared back at him.

"Can't a girl laugh? That means I'm enjoying this class, Tanaka-sempai. I'm laughing because I love this class," Renge's eyes filled with tears on cue. For the rest of the period, Tanaka-sempai and the students argued back and forth on why students should and shouldn't laugh during class while Arisu was replaying conversations in her mind of what it would be like if she and Kaoru were to go out on a date.

Then, the bell rang, and before she could even think about escaping, Renge grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room with an evil glint in her eyes.

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Hope you liked it!! Please review and tell me what you think. I'm so excited about this yay :D. 


	2. Is It You

I've just decided. With each chapter, there'll be a song that kind of sets a theme to it. Last chapter it was Secret Valentine by We The Kings. For this chapter, it's 'Is It You' by Cassie. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!

The Bees and Butterflies: Is It You

"Welcome, welcome!" a blinding light greeted the flock of some ten to fifteen girls that waited in the halls. Arisu glanced at Renge who looked as if she was ready to receive the award for school's greatest otaku.

"There doesn't seem to be that many people..." Arisu mentioned to Renge. Renge totally ignored her as she joined in with the other screaming girls. Arisu then decided to scream with them for the effect.

The girls were ushered into the room where they went to go meet with their host. In all of the excitement, Renge left her behind where Arisu stood lost and confused in the center of the ballroom. It was a nice place with expensive-looking furniture and lots of food. She thought about taking some food and leaving but decided that would be rude.

Kyoya Ootori noticed her bewilderment and approached her with a professional smile.

"Welcome Arisu Sasaki. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I don't know." She wanted to ask how he knew her name without ever speaking to her in his life but she felt it would be rude as well.

"Are you Arisu Sasaki?!" a dramatic voice exploded a short distance from her. Arisu quickly flipped her head around to see the second-year's most gorgeous student, Tamaki Suoh. He must have spun around once for he landed on his knees in the most graceful form. "It is my honor to be in your beautiful presence, mademoiselle!" Arisu smiled. "I saw your editorial work in last month's issue and you looked like a glorious angel!"

"Thanks," she continued to smile hoping secretly that Kaoru would overhear her. She was tempted to glance over but Tamaki and Kyoya were very, _very_ important people in the aristocracy.

"Since this is your first time and you're a special guest, you can try any of our hosts for free," Kyoya offered. Arisu's head snapped up.

"Do you usually do this to first-time customers?"

"Well, customers are suppose to set appointments and according to our schedule here, there is a four month waiting period since we like to keep our groups small and personal. However, for you, we'll make an exception," he smiled eerily. As he walked off, she wondered if he hid many dark secrets behind his glasses. It was true, she thought, that people were naturally attracted to and repelled from Kyoya at the same time. Haruhi was taking a break when she spoke to Kyoya about the new customer.

"Who is that?"

"That's Arisu Sasaki. I suspect a commoner like you wouldn't know anything about her type," Kyoya sighed. "Arisu comes from a family of supermodels that have tremendous influence on the high fashion industry."

"High fashion?"

"Do you remember ever venturing into those stores where you would have to pay a thousand dollars for a pair of shoes that strongly resembles a pair of shoes found at the commoner's mall for a thousand yen?"

"Actually, you can find thousand-dollar shoes at the commoner's mall," Haruhi stated. "That's probably explains why she misses a lot of classes." She said.

Back to where Tamaki and Arisu were, Arisu requested as politely as she could that she didn't want Tamaki as her host.

"Next time?" she asked. "I can bring my portfolio if you want to see it?"

"Actually..." Tamaki exchanged glances between her and the group that surrounded Haruhi. "...is it possible you can get a portfolio of Haruhi?" Arisu blinked. "I've always wanted to see my Haruhi wear the pretty clothes that you wear!"

'He's gay,' Arisu concluded. "That's not really for me to decide...I can let you borrow some of the dresses I have."

"Yes, yes, but that means you'll have to come see us again and bless us with your angel face!" Tamaki grinned. "So who do you want to see?" She was about to look over to where Hikaru and Kaoru were when an explosion of screaming fangirls echoed throughout the ballroom. She almost fainted seeing Hikaru and Kaoru on the borderline of fondling each other.

'Them too?!' The color on Arisu's face drained to the color of blank paper. She felt the fantasy of Kaoru as the knight in shining armor and she as the princess begin to fade into Kaoru as the princess and Hikaru as the knight in shining armor. She was the brokenhearted maiden that the readers didn't notice in the corner.

"Well, I see you like _those_ type of boys," Tamaki winked.

"I do?" Arisu gave a helpless look. Before she knew it, she was pushed to where Hikaru and Kaoru sat. Three of the girls that were on the couch opposite to Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at Arisu before they squealed with excitement.

"Arisu!! We never knew you liked twincest too!!"

"Models like that stuff too?"

"Join us!" they quickly shifted over seats to make room for her. Arisu was shoved into the seat on the end where Hikaru and Kaoru grinned simultaneously at the thought of entertaining more guests.

"So you finally come out of the closet," one of the twins said. She didn't know which one. She believed it was Hikaru for the way his hair parted to his left. Kaoru parted his hair to his right. That was their default hair style. "What would you like to see us do, Arisu?"

"We'll kiss for you," Hikaru was trying with all of his effort to suppress a grin. "Or would you like to see us embrace one another."

"Choose, Arisu! Choose!" the girls chanted. Arisu had no time to think as her heart was frozen and her eyes couldn't leave Kaoru's face. Whenever she went on a modeling campaign, she had seen so many beautiful and handsome men. She treated them all like brothers and friends, and spoke to even the most gorgeous of them with ease and without anxiety. Here, Kaoru was only an inch or two taller than her. He was very, very cute but she had seen male models more handsome than Kaoru but for some reason—she couldn't even think why she liked him.

She wondered if Kaoru could read her mind. His laugh broke the invisible forces of unintentional peer pressure. Hikaru then giggled with him and the girls next to Arisu sighed, feeling their hearts melt like warm, chocolate goo.

"We shouldn't be so tough on her. Mom would be upset if she quits because of us."

"What?" one of the girls expressed her confusion.

"All of you know that our mother is a high fashion designer..." Hikaru began.

"...and Arisu is one of our best models, isn't that right?" Kaoru grinned at her. Arisu nodded but found that she was unable to speak. She could deal with the stress of having school exams and racing to fashion shows within the same day. Now, she couldn't even say a word to her imagined elusive Prince Charming. Arisu was now dying to ask if her face looks like a tomato. And tomatoes can't speak.

"I've always wanted to be a Hitachiin model!" one of the girls said cheerfully.

"There's no need to be," Hikaru held her hands. "You're far prettier than any model."

"Hikaru!" Kaoru's hand tugged Hikaru's sleeves. "I thought you said I was more beautiful than any model. I can't believe...that you'd say that someone else so quickly after last night," his eyes became teary.

"I'm so sorry, Kaoru! You know that in my heart, you are beyond beauty. You are the apple in my pie, the notes to my piano, and the keys to my car!" The two then embraced each other more fondly than two brothers would. The girls erupted into cheers and shrills of joy while Arisu gaped in helpless confusion.

This absurdity went on for a few more hours until Kyoya told her it was time to leave. The last of the girls were to be escorted to their rides home. Picking up the hints from Kyoya and Tamaki, Kaoru walked Arisu to her limo ride.

"How did you like your first time?" Kaoru asked. "We like virgins the best." He grinned mischievously. Arisu laughed cheerfully.

"It was a lot to handle," Arisu smiled and for the first time she felt her smile probably looked ridiculous to him. Her heart wouldn't stop racing the whole afternoon and wondered how she didn't get a heart attack. She finally had her chance of being alone with Kaoru after how many years of admiring from the distance whenever she went to the Hitachiin estate. Yuzuha Hitachiin, their mother, often gathered the models there to try on the clothes she made, and Arisu always hoped that deep down that she would introduce her sons to them again, but that never happened. Whenever she ran into Kaoru, it was coincidental when she had to use the restroom.

"Will we be seeing you tomorrow?" Kaoru asked. Arisu shook her head.

"K-Kyoya said that there was a three...four-month waiting period," she swore at herself silently for stuttering.

"Just give Kyoya some money and you can see us again. You know you want to," Kaoru grinned as he opened the door for her. Arisu was thankful that it was too dark for him to see that her face was turning red again. 'He's probably joking,' she repeated to herself. 'He doesn't like me,' she said to calm herself down. She sat inside and tried to smile at him but she was too scared that looking at him might show how obvious it was that he knew she had the biggest crush on him.

"See you tomorrow," Kaoru bowed like a prince before he shut the door calmly.

As the car was driving away, Arisu grinned and couldn't help but react like a little girl who had received a pony for her birthday. Kaoru spoke to her! Kaoru spoke to her, which meant ultimately that she could hope that there was a Prince Charming waiting for her and only her.

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Yay this was longer than the last one. Please review!! I want encouragements to keep on writing!


	3. Sway

OK, this time it's Bic Runga's Sway. Anyone who's reading this should download this song. It's really really good :). I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I had writer's block...anyway hope you like this chapter! I'll update very soon, I promise!

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The Bees and Butterflies: Sway

Despite what she had said yesterday, she couldn't make it to the host club's event the following day. Not being able to relive that fantasy of talking to Kaoru even for a few seconds made her wonder if true love was ever possible.

This was her eighth trip to the Hitachiin house in the last two months. Yuzuha has been extremely critical on herself making sure that things were exact for her spring collection. Everyone around her at the house was going on super diets that involved a ball of cabbage and diet soda for all of their meals.

While Yuzuha Hitachiin was going through her clothes, throwing things around, ordering maids and models to do whatever tasks she ordered, Arisu had her Russian literature book open taking notes. Some of them listened to music to calm themselves down, one was chewing on massive chunks of gum, two of them studied with her, and one of the models had fallen asleep.

Before she realized it, Yuzuha demanded that Arisu be fitted into one of the 'avant gardé' outfits. Arisu felt ridiculous and looked like a gigantic mushroom walking in high heels. Yuzuha quelled her fears as she called Arisu an 'elegant, graceful mushroom'. Arisu only laughed and tried to jump around in it, which only upset Yuzuha quickly that the 'shroom' portion of the outfit threatened to collapse at any moment.

"I can't have you doing that to my outfits, Arisu—I hire my models to wear things, not destroy it. The material for that cost me nearly a thousand dollars," Yuzuha frowned. Arisu had never seen Yuzuha frown at her before but making her frown can only mean one thing: she really screwed up.

"Sorry," she looked away. She wondered if Yuzuha was going to somehow bring that up over dinner with her sons that she was an incompetent model for jumping around in a mushroom-looking outfit. Just when Arisu thought it couldn't get any worse, she heard voices arguing in the halls. And before Arisu could pull her composure together, she saw Hikaru and Kaoru walk gracefully into the room.

"Hi, boys! You're home early!" Yuzuha's demeanor suddenly became brighter. "Well, girls, these are my sons. They've grown a lot, haven't they?"

"Too short," the one chewing the massive loads of gum said bluntly.

"It's not like I'm asking you to court them," Yuzuha laughed. Hikaru and Kaoru were quick to show that they didn't like her remark.

"If we don't like you..."

"...we can get you fired." The Hitachiin twins grinned.

"Where would your modeling career be without this?"

The model chewing gum stopped chewing and looked away with a defeated silence. The twins laughed alongside each other while Arisu hoped to death that none of them recognized her.

"What an ugly mushroom, Mom," one of them said. "Did you smoke weed again?"

"So that's where you were," Kaoru—Arisu believed—grinned. "You missed out on the greatest love act of twincest!" Arisu grinned in return, again feeling self-conscious about her grin. As Yuzuha was helping another girl get fitted into another design, Hikaru and Kaoru both whispered to Arisu. "When this is all over, come up to our room so we can show you."

"No thanks," Arisu giggled and attempted to walk over to where their mother was, trying to keep as much composure as possible with the gigantic ornament she had on her back and shoulders. Kaoru and Hikaru kept her from going.

"Wait a second..."

"...mushroom girl."

"You get to see this..."

"...for free." For some reason, Arisu never had been so clear on which twin was Kaoru. One of them for some reason seemed more instantly appealing than the other. Maybe it was the way that he said it. And that person was definitely Kaoru. True love rang loud and clear.

She never thought she was the Machiavellian type that as long as she got to see, hear, and experience Kaoru's presence, it didn't matter what the cost would be.

"Sure," she said without thinking. "When I'm done with this." She looked away without seeing the evil grins on the twins' faces. She found it odd to be standing a bit taller than them. She couldn't wait to get rid of the heels so that she wouldn't feel truly like a monstrous mushroom ready to consume young boys and girls.

This put her in a good mood for the rest of the fitting. The next outfit was also colossal but she took it on with as much grace and poise as she could incase Kaoru was secretly watching her and if he was secretly watching her, she hoped he would be admiring how wonderful she looked.

And without her knowledge, Hikaru and Kaoru were watching from the balcony where they knew she wouldn't see them. As far as they knew, she seemed as calm and sure of herself despite what Kyoya had observed of her. She walked confidently especially with the taller model by her side, looking fashionably dangerous like she was about to kill someone with those high heels.

"Hikaru, I don't see what Kyoya sees," Kaoru droned.

"Apparently, Kyoya discovered that she has a crush on you," Hikaru grinned. "That's funny. She doesn't even know the difference between us."

"It's been so long since we put a girl to the test."

"Do you think she'll pass?"

"No," Kaoru laughed. "But we can't push her too much. Mom wouldn't like that."

"Who cares what mom thinks. She doesn't know," Hikaru looked at his brother for a moment. "I'll start."

After they were finished going through endless racks of outfits, the models were invited to stay for dinner. All of them accepted the invitation and were allowed to gorge on as much non-dressing salad as they desired. Some of the models had grouchy looks on their faces but Arisu was shoving lettuce down her throat in turmoil.

Was Kaoru thinking of her as much as she was thinking of him?

She had a difficult time looking down the table where the two twins sat chatting away with their father. She tried to have a good time trying to talk to the other models who bragged about the shows that they booked for the spring. It wasn't long until she noticed one of the twins staring at her. She looked back unsure of what her face looked like.

"She's not blushing, Kaoru," Hikaru whispered. Kaoru leaned and glanced over his brother's shoulder. "You know, it's totally possible that Kyoya makes mistakes."

"Oh man, if Kyoya heard you say that..." Kaoru laughed. Arisu quickly looked away feeling her face grow warm. She quickly sipped a spoonful of hot soup and felt her eyes began to water. One of the models, Minaki, gaped at her.

"What are you doing, Arisu?" she glared.

"I like this soup, it tastes great!" Arisu grinned feebly. "What's in this?"

"Shark fin. Do you like it?" Yuzuha asked from the end of the table. Arisu smiled and nodded but it didn't stop from her face become any warmer from embarrassment and that Kaoru was watching.

"I'm allergic to seafood," Arisu quickly said, wanting to make a fast retreat to the bathroom.

"No, you're not—" Minaki retorted as Arisu stomped on her foot. Minaki covered her mouth whispering swear words as she took off.

"Oh my goodness, Arisu, do you need medications? Can you breathe?" Yuzuha asked nervously. Arisu shook her head.

"It gives me indigestion." She lied as she glanced back at Minaki whose free hand flipped her off where no one but Arisu could see a model's lack of professional behavior. "Excuse me." By the time she made it to the restroom, she sat on the covered toilet seat and stared at her reflection. She looked as if she had the Asian glow from one too many drinks.

"What am I thinking?" she mouthed silently. She pulled out her clutch and took out a bottle of perfume, and set it on the counter aside her. Arisu cringed and felt her eyes began to water not from any hot soup or from the embarrassment. She remembered watching her closest friends having their hearts broken by Kaoru Hitachiin but she was sure herself that she liked him more than anyone in the world.

Before she could begin to swallow her tears, she heard his voice and several light taps on the bathroom door.

"Arisu, are you alright?"

She quickly stood up and lifted the toilet seat. She flushed the toilet while spraying it over several times with the perfume she had set aside and stuffed it away in her giant clutch. After playing with the sink's water and rubbing off her eye makeup, she opened the door to see one of the Hitachiin brothers staring back at her with concern.

"My mom wanted to make sure you weren't dying."

"Oh, thanks," Arisu grinned rubbing her eyes as gracefully as she could. There was no doubt that Hikaru found her to be prettier without her makeup but that wasn't what bothered him. "I'm sorry I worried all of you like that. You can use the bathroom if you want." She left him there without another word. Hikaru watched her leave, and was left with a deep sense of bewilderment. Maybe Kyoya was wrong, he thought, but then he remembered that Arisu was never allergic to seafood. Her favorite thing on the school's menu was shrimp.

Maybe she was lovesick, Hikaru thought, as he wandered further into the bathroom to see if she did suffer from indigestion. The moment he lifted the toilet seat slightly, he felt nearly compelled to vomit his entire dinner.

"Shit..." he swore and stormed out of the bathroom.

Minaki was the only one that noticed when Hikaru came back to his seat and didn't touch the rest of his food.

"What did you do?" she whispered to Arisu who was determined on finishing her salad. It was as Arisu feared as she swallowed another round of cabbages.

"Stink perfume," she muttered. It was inevitable that Kaoru would soon find out about her secret love for him, and they were starting to catch on. Would they tell their mother? Would they sabotage her career because to them she was just another pathetic girl who was helplessly in love with them?

She ignored the rest of the conversation and found fruits to be her next best friend. When the dinner was over, the models' limos were waiting outside for them. Yuzuha and her husband escorted them out, while the twins followed not far behind.

"Arisu," one of them called. She turned around and smiled feebly at them pretending that nothing could phase her.

"See you tomorrow," the other one said. Unable to even speak, Arisu smiled a little more poise. The model, whom Yuzuha called, with the strongest stature became the fragile as a large fish in a shallow pond. She never realized love had the capacity to humble her this greatly. When she got into the car, she couldn't look at the twins, afraid that they finally might discover her secret.

"She's going to be a tough one to crack," Hikaru grinned.

Kaoru didn't smile. There hasn't been a girl since Haruhi in which he had such difficulty in understanding. If she really was in love with him, she was sure doing a very good job in acting like that wasn't the case.

But he'll find out tomorrow. He and Hikaru made eye contact with each other and both knew what the other was thinking.

"I've got an idea," Hikaru's eyes were lit with excitement. The two headed back into the house quickly to get ready for the coming morning.

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YAY Now that my writer's block has been overcome. I'll definitely update soon. Check back on this story in a few days...oh, and review please :D I want to know how you feel about this story!


	4. Foolish Games

The song that suits the theme for this chapter is pretty obvious. It's Foolish Games by Jewel! I remember listening to her a lot in junior high. Anyway, enjoy :D!

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The Bees and Butterflies: Foolish Games

Today, she realized was going to be a bad day but she wasn't expecting to see how bad it would be.

It started out when Arisu slipped and fell on the steps of her staircase upon waking up. During breakfast, she spilled diet soda all over her school uniform. When some of the family's personal stylists tried to fix her hair, no flat iron, hair spray conditioner, or brush could fix its atrocity. When she got out of her limo to enter the school premises, she stepped on a thick was of gum.

Renge had lent her a hair tie and a headband to cover up at least some of the disastrous mess she was in. Arisu also forgot left her makeup bag back at the limo (which had already left) which left her looking like a walking disorder. Other girls whispered behind her back wondering what happened to the runway model that they once admired. She heard one of them murmured out loud that she looked as if she died a month ago.

Thus, the only good thing that happened that morning was that Kaoru approached her while she was standing within her circle of friends. She wondered if he thought she looked like shit but it still did nothing to suppress the intense excitement and thrill of first love.

"Do you also want to eat lunch with us?" Kaoru added along with the invitation. Arisu didn't know how to reply. "It sometimes gets boring when you have Mori, Kyoya, and Tamaki as your friends," he rolled his eyes. Arisu grinned and accepted the invitation.

"She's pretty even when she looks like Kyoya on a bad day, doesn't she?" Hikaru said mockingly to his brother as they watched Arisu retreat to her social circle. Kaoru laughed and didn't say anything. "Today is her lucky day."

During first period, she suddenly realized that she had a commercial that day she had to film for as she pulled out the script and began to memorize it during the teacher's lecture.

"Are you alright?" Haruhi asked. Arisu shook her head. "Is it Hikaru and Kaoru? Are they picking on you? You know, they only pick on people they like," he smiled. There was something very off about Haruhi that Arisu sensed but his smile made her feel much better. She was very tempted to ask if Haruhi was gay but felt embarrassed that the answer may be too obvious.

"Can you keep a secret?" Arisu felt her eyes begin to water like they had yesterday. Suddenly realizing that this may be important, Haruhi nodded eagerly and gave a look of concern that made Arisu believe that Haruhi had the presence of a girl that other girls would confide to. Arisu scribbled three letters on a ripped piece of paper.

Haruhi read the note and her eyes blinked in surprise. She looked at Arisu who looked away with body language that spelled defeat. Haruhi almost felt sorry for her. She had grown to admire Arisu after Tamaki forced her to look at her editorial and runway pictures. There was a kind of strength in those pictures that Haruhi saw, which was absent in the girl before her.

It made Haruhi wonder if that's what love does to people. She, herself, had never been in love, thus that emotion that everyone has talked about since she was a child seemed more mysterious than ever. Love was reducing the strong girl that Haruhi saw in those pictures into one step away from an emotional breakdown.

_You should tell him. You seem really upset_, Haruhi wrote in response.

_I have a commercial today._ She continued to reread her script and struggled to memorize all of the lines together before the lunch period began.

_Do you mind if I stop by to watch? We can hang out afterwards._

Arisu grinned at her and nodded. It was the confidence that Haruhi recognized in her pictures. Haruhi couldn't help but smile in return and resumed focusing on the lecture. Arisu wondered if finding Haruhi attractive made her gay despite the fact she knew Haruhi was a guy.

Once lunch period arrived, before she could make it to the lunch room, she was pulled aside. She glanced to see it was one of the Hitachiin twins that held on to her arm carefully, and she wondered what had triggered this reaction. He finally stopped in a courtyard where no one else could see them, which made Arisu somewhat nervous.

At his side, he held a slightly tattered letter in his hands, but she was too distracted by his eyes, his messy brown hair, and his perfect skin to care about what he was holding.

"Sorry I brought you out here on such short notice, but I couldn't help it once I read this," he waved the note delicately. "Is that really how you feel about me?"

"What?" Arisu blinked. The Hitachiin twin held up the piece of folded paper. He unfolded it and read the contents.

"Dear Kaoru, ever since the day I first met you, I had to admit, I fell in love. I've always admired you from the distance and didn't know how to approach you appropriately. I didn't know how to tell you this but I found it much easier to write this in a letter. I hope you understand how I feel and I hope you accept my confession. Love, Arisu."

"I didn't write that," her lips pursed into a slight frown. "Can I see that?"

"Really?" he asked ignoring her request. He leaned over and held her chin delicately with his fingers. "Is it true though? Would it make a difference if you liked either me or Hikaru?"

It was happening, she realized. This was exactly what they had done to the other girls that confessed, the other girls who were utterly convinced that Kaoru and/or Hikaru were the one. She felt her stomach drop and her heart thumping loudly in her head.

"I didn't write that," she replied before realizing who she was to them now. She was simply just another girl. Despite all of the advantages she had: her looks, her affiliation with the family, the fact she was a model, all added up to her being another ordinary girl.

"That's irrelevant now," he smiled. She couldn't think. This wasn't happening. She glanced at the letter and again into his dark brown eyes that hid his identity. Should she challenge him right now? What if she was wrong? Should she admit defeat and just get the rejection over with so she could finally be free from these emotions? "I mean, Hikaru and I are basically the same, right? Would it matter if you dated either of us?"

'What did the other girls say?' she asked herself. 'Was this a trick question?'

"I wouldn't date Ka—I mean you...Hikaru," Arisu felt her throat close up, cursing herself for slipping up.

"Really?" his eyes widened but his voice was dripping with fake curiosity. "Isn't that funny, Hikaru? She can't even tell the difference between us yet she thinks she likes you." Arisu turned around to see the other Hitachiin twin standing several feet away from her smiling almost sarcastically. She heard the sound of paper tearing, when she turned around to see the first Hitachiin brother tear the note into pieces.

"Don't waste our time if you think you love one of us but you can't tell us apart." She stared at the pieces on the floor hearing only the painful beat of her heart. The twins left her there immediately without another word and when they disappeared, she gathered up the pieces and saw that it wasn't her handwriting. But like he said, that was irrelevant. She crumpled to her knees and cried holding her head in her hands believing wholeheartedly that today absolutely had to be the worst day of her life.

Haruhi was suspicious of Arisu's absence in the final class period after lunch. When the teacher looked away, she passed a note to Renge asking where Arisu may be.

_She probably left early to go film her commercial_, Renge responded. _You're not going to be at the host club today? Sad!_

Renge then wrote the directions to the studio where the commercial was to be filmed. Renge declined on going, saying that she had been to Arisu's filming and photo shoots before.

"Being with my Kyoya is more fulfilling! After all, I could never be a model...I just LOVE chocolate SO much!" she sighed dramatically before leaving Haruhi to herself.

However, Haruhi became even more suspicious when Hikaru and Kaoru behaved slightly differently. They came late to lunch but they said it was because they had to drop off some books in the library. Thinking that it was just mere coincidence, Haruhi was able to concentrate for the rest of the period until the bell rang and she met up with Renge.

"Haruhi, where are you going?" Hikaru asked.

"Oh, tell Tamaki that I won't be showing up for today."

"Kyoya won't be happy..." Kaoru grinned. Haruhi shrugged.

"I'm going to visit Arisu today. She asked me to go see her filming," she replied and felt the slight change in the atmosphere when she mentioned Arisu's name.

"Oh, dear," Hikaru droned.

"Kyoya won't be happy."

"Just tell Kyoya it's only for today. I can have other friends too, right?" she said with a lively tone.

"Hey, Haruhi," Hikaru interrupted.

"Do you mind if we come along too?"

"Sure...I don't think Arisu would mind," Haruhi thought. 'Maybe them showing up late to lunch was a coincidence.' They separated to gather their stuff. As Haruhi waited out in the front of the school for them, Kaoru and Hikaru volunteered to tell Kyoya of their absence. However, it wasn't the case as the twins walked more slowly toward the entrance of the school.

"Who does she think she is?" Hikaru scowled. Kaoru, for a moment, was about to ask if he was speaking about Haruhi but the tone of his voice was familiar. "She couldn't even tell the difference between us."

"She did get it right though..." Kaoru said slowly.

"Lucky guess," said Hikaru who rolled his eyes ignoring the matter of the fact. "Besides, she's nothing compared to Haruhi, right?" he asked. Kaoru blinked. He hadn't heard Hikaru be this upfront about his feelings for Haruhi ever since the night they were at school for Halloween. "I mean, sure, Arisu Sasaki works for our mom so she has to be hot, but for her to think she can deal with us like Haruhi can?"

"Calm down, Hikaru. This isn't about Haruhi," said Kaoru coolly. Hikaru seemed to realize what he was saying as he mumbled something under his breath. "Maybe we were too hard on her."

"What do you think about her, Kaoru? I haven't heard from you yet? Personally, I want to go to the studio to see her screw up that commercial just at the sight of us," Hikaru muttered sarcastically. "Can't you tell? She's trying to get close to us by being friends with Haruhi. You know, that's probably why she works for Mom, so that she can—"

"Stop being so paranoid, Hikaru," Kaoru interrupted. "Honestly, I'm not interested in her so why should you get upset? If I'm indifferent, you should be indifferent too." He shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Haruhi was about to go back into the school building to look at them until she saw them emerge from the entrance, obviously standing out from the crowd. She smiled when she saw them but was somewhat phased by the fact they were still a bit distant from everyone else. When Hikaru saw her, he grinned and ran up to her. Before Haruhi could respond, Hikaru swung her around joyfully while Kaoru watched with a weak smile.

'Why is it that Haruhi is the only one who doesn't see me that way,' he thought to himself before joining the two in the limo, pretending to go along with Hikaru's antics the way he had for the past month or so. The thought of Arisu never came to his mind until they had finally arrived at the studio.

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If you get the chance, please please leave feedback! Anything is appreciated :D! Thanks!! 


	5. Tears Dry On Their Own

Before I begin, I want to thank sillysally93, lu.e3, yellowmoon27, RatsRule, OhMyGoshsickels, HoneyYfan4ever, KinKitsune01, Lady Seiryu and the rest of you for reviewing. It's really been extremely encouraging and it's helped me to keep going. I want to give special thanks to Literate and Yondaime Minato. Reading your review really made me think 'wow, I really can write something'. Thank you so so so much! Anywho:

This time, it's Amy Winehouse's Tears Dry On Their Own. If you have the time, please look up the lyrics! It's really good :D.

* * *

The Bees and Butterflies: Tears Dry On Their Own

When they arrived, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi made it into the studio where they said they were friends from Arisu's school. Recognizing the Hitachiins and wishing not to have Yuzuha Hitachiin destroy their careers, the stage crew allowed them to wander around the set as long as they didn't get in the way. Haruhi saw several other girls who definitely didn't look like they were part of the stage crew, and assumed that they were Arisu's friends from her work.

"Haruhi!" Arisu called. The three turned around as Arisu approached them calmly. The twins and Haruhi could hardly tell that she had recovered from an emotional meltdown that instant.

Before she knew it, Haruhi suddenly felt conscious of her face and her height. She forgot how tall Arisu was—she was shorter than Hikaru and Kaoru but compared to most of the girls at school who were stuck in puberty, very cheery, and shorter, Arisu looked as if she decided to skip puberty, and had a sense of elegance and poise that matched Kyoya's whenever he spoke to the adults. It didn't help either that the billowy white dress she wore probably cost more than her entire apartment complex.

"It's so good to see all of you here," she grinned, making Haruhi feel self-conscious about her own teeth. She wondered if her skin could look like hers. She then seemed to remember that she forgot to wash her hair yesterday seeing how smooth and perfectly kept Arisu's hair was. Despite that, she was still Haruhi, and those thoughts were merely pushed aside for the purpose of being here.

"It wasn't a problem. I never got to see this before. What's the commercial for?" Haruhi asked.

"It's a beauty campaign for one of the major Japanese cosmetic companies...which is why I look like this," Arisu laughed slightly at herself. Haruhi, without a doubt, sensed her nervousness. "Sometimes, some of my friends from school that visit me on this set get upset because I look like this."

"Why is that? I think it's wonderful that you model. All they need to do is look pretty." Haruhi smiled. "That's your job, right?" she glanced at Hikaru and Kaoru waiting for them to say anything but they weren't around. When she noticed Arisu's absent look, Haruhi was quick to figure out the situation. "Something happened." It wasn't a question.

Arisu looked down and bit her lip.

"It's for the better, I guess," Arisu whispered. Haruhi shook her head. Something didn't seem right about this. "I mean, I shouldn't be telling this to you, because you're, like, their best friend and everything." She took a deep breath, struggling terribly not to cry with the eyeliner around her eyes.

"I'm your friend too," Haruhi smiled as encouragingly as she could. And with that, Arisu was comfortable telling someone else other than her hair stylist. "It's up to you."

"It was my fault for liking Kaoru in the first place. Besides, I can't really even tell the difference between the twins, you know?" she admitted. "Every time I see them though, I always get the feeling I know which one Kaoru is but it's only a guess. I don't know how you can tell them apart so easily."

"Why do you think they'd agree so easily with me to come see you now?" Haruhi asked. Arisu shrugged and before she could say anymore, the director was yelling for filming to happen within the minute.

"Arisu! We need you on set right now!"

"Good luck," Haruhi patted. Arisu smiled before reaching to the center of the set, not realizing that she rushed past the Hitachiin twins. Several of the stylists jumped in to make some finishing touches, while Haruhi approached the twins.

"You should leave if all you are going to do is make her screw up," she glared at them. The two glanced at each other and then looked back at her.

"What are you talking about, Haruhi?" they asked in sync.

"It's one thing to tell a girl that you don't return her feelings, Kaoru, but you don't have to be here to make it worse."

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" the director's voice roared over the set, asserting his authority. There wasn't a chance for Haruhi to wait for their reactions when all eyes were averted to where Arisu stood feet away from the camera. "Alright, take one!"

"Have all-nighters for that one good grade been making you look glum?" Arisu smiled at the camera. "We've all experienced what happens when we go to school with circles under our eyes." Arisu paused for a moment and then just grinned at the camera before laughing.

"Cut. Take two," the director instructed.

"Have all-nighters for that one good grade been making you glum? We've all—sorry," she looked down covering her mouth this time with no laugh.

"Cut!" the director said this time with an annoyed tone. "Let's try this again. Take three." Arisu opened her mouth to speak but suddenly felt the lights that were shining in her eyes to be too strong. She shook her head and looked down again. "Cut!" the director yelled. "What's the matter? You only have to talk for thirty seconds."

Arisu nodded and asked to improvise some of the lines. The director didn't answer, allowing Arisu to continue. Haruhi couldn't help but hold her breath as well with anxiety, hoping that Arisu wouldn't self-destruct before the camera.

"OK, alright..." Arisu breathed.

"If it helps, think about a boy you want to impress!" the director yelled. Haruhi's heart dropped. That was exactly what Arisu shouldn't be told at this point. As far as she knew, Arisu refused to make eye contact with anyone. She glared at the camera before breaking into a laugh that made Haruhi smile in relief.

"Have all-nighters been making you look glum? For many of us, we'd do anything to be at the top of our class, but our beauty does not have to suffer in the process. C---- is my secret to studying all night and looking gorgeous in the morning. C---- is a lightweight eye cream filled with vitamins and minerals that restores the natural color to the skin around your eyes so that you can take that test and still look absolutely fabulous," she finished with a wink to the camera. The director was on the verge of tears and others who were watching clapped profusely that their little model wasn't going to have a meltdown. Haruhi grinned and then remembered what she was about to say to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"She could have used that this morning," Hikaru laughed but with no malice. Kaoru failed to suppress a smile but he clapped along with the stage crew.

"What did you guys do, really?" Haruhi asked. Hikaru grinned and placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Since when did our little Haruhi find gossip so appealing?"

"That's not what hosts do!" Kaoru grinned placing another arm around her. "We only did what hosts could do to tame heartbreak!" Haruhi only sighed but recovered with a smile as Arisu came up to them cautiously.

"Thank you so much for coming. Sorry you had to see me stutter like that. It's not very...usual," she smiled. Again, Haruhi felt conscious about the fact she didn't wash her face this morning or that she had to trim her hair. She glanced at Kaoru for a moment for deciding quickly:

"I need to go to the bathroom," Haruhi announced before taking Kaoru along with her. Hikaru was confused and was about to follow them but found that impossible as they immediately vanished into the busy crowd of joyful stage crew members and janitors. He looked back at Arisu and wondered if it would be best to leave her there by herself but the instincts of a host that Tamaki had drilled into his head knew better.

"It's not very often that you get to see me without my brother," he grinned. "Can you guess which one I am?" he asked. Arisu waited for a moment ignoring the coldness of his eyes that she saw earlier that day. She was lost on who this was. She crossed her arms and stared at his face much longer than was necessary but Hikaru didn't mind staring back.

"I want to say Hikaru," she whispered. "Am I right?"

"And you said you liked me," he smiled. "You can't even tell the difference between me and Hikaru."

"I'm sure you're Hikaru," she said slowly but her voice was extremely uncertain. Arisu felt her romantic life was already at an end anyway. All it needed was an incredibly painfully awkward sequel. "Kaoru doesn't grin as much as you do." The grin on Hikaru's face vanished into a very slight frown. The sparkle in his eyes faded as if the fog was vanishing to reveal something. "I hope I'm right though. I'm really bad at this...I guess that's what happens when you're bored, right? You just watch people." She laughed awkwardly.

"We would never accept you," Hikaru replied. "What do you like about him anyway if you can't distinguish between Kaoru and me?"

"Umm...you go to a pet store and you see seven identical white rabbits in a cage. You then realize that one of them is the right one for you."

Before Hikaru had the time to reply, Kaoru and Haruhi returned looking like they had ran through a tornado. Kaoru was laughing profusely while Haruhi was frowning and making all attempts to ignore Kaoru's laughter. The interactions between the two made Arisu somewhat envious in that she wished she was Haruhi.

"Hikaru, you just missed out on the best thing to happen to Haruhi yet," Kaoru couldn't stop laughing as Haruhi was telling him to shut up. "Haruhi went to the girls' bathroom and—" and just noticing Arisu, Kaoru's laugh stifled, suppressing it to a giggle.

"I don't see what's so funny," Haruhi grumbled. "Will we be seeing you tomorrow?"

"At the host club?" Arisu blinked. Haruhi nodded. "I have work. Besides, you guys have a lot of other customers on your hands anyway."

After dropping Haruhi off at her apartment, the twins were silent in the car. It didn't take long for Kaoru to notice Hikaru's silence. He then thought of what happened earlier when he accidentally left Hikaru behind with Arisu. It had to have been something she said.

"What did you talk about with her?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru frowned, thinking of what to say. Slowly he replied:

"Do you think we're growing apart from each other?"

Kaoru didn't answer, finding the car windows more interesting to look at. He shrugged. "Isn't that what we wanted?" Hikaru didn't look away from Kaoru as he thought about what this may mean. It was already difficult enough that Kaoru had feelings for Haruhi but didn't want in any way to hurt his brother. However, he couldn't muster the courage to say anything. Every passing day, he saw himself becoming more of the third wheel, the extra set when Tamaki or Hikaru were around her. And it hurt so badly that he couldn't think straight. Kaoru looked at his older brother as the limo was about to come to its final stop, and smiled.

"I think we have been growing apart for a while now," Kaoru would have whispered but didn't as he merely shook his head and laughed. "You're so paranoid, Hikaru." He said before the two got out of the limo and walked toward their house, for the first time, in an awkward silence.


	6. Lessons Learned

The Bees and Butterflies: Lessons Learned

Friday was always the best day of class. However, for Arisu Sasaki, it was simply another day that followed the string of terrible days she has had this week. Yesterday, when she attempted to leave after school, she was intercepted by the cutest third-year high school student Mitsukuni Haninozuka.

Now that she thought about it, it had to have been a trap. Arisu had to rush to her photo shoot, since she had landed a ten-page editorial spread in one of Japan's most prestigious fashion magazines. That didn't matter any more when Hunny successfully managed to break her lettuce-only-and-zero-calorie-drinks diet.

Eating five pieces of cake resulted in getting her sent to the hospital where she was commanded by the doctors to vomit the contents of her stomach or else she was going to undergo a diabetic shock. And she wasn't even diabetic.

"I'm so sorry! I just wanted you to feel better! You feel better now, right? RIGHT?" Hunny's eyes had more water than the school's swimming pool. Arisu wanted to glare at him after throwing up but couldn't find the energy.

She made it to the photo shoot where Hunny apologized to everyone for her being three hours late. The fact that Hunny was so cute made everyone on the set forget that she was ever late. Hunny's joy and energy at the set was so infectious that in one of the pictures, Arisu accidentally laughed and the photographer accidentally snapped a picture. He later said it was the best picture he had taken in the longest time and proceeded to ask Hunny if he wanted his own editorial spread as well.

Before Arisu knew it, Hunny had passed a copy of the pictures to Haruhi who thought they were incredible. Then, she accidentally left them on the table in the host club's ballroom where Tamaki and Kyoya discovered them.

"Why did you sell all of those pictures to all of the guys in this school? They're supposed to be in next month's issue," Arisu confronted Kyoya about her pictures being carried around the school.

"I thought it made sense," Kyoya said smoothly. "We had to make up for Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Hunny's absences on the days they visited you."

"They only visited me once."

"If you want, you can have five percent of the profits. They are really good pictures though," Kyoya smiled before leaving her baffled.

Aside from that, Arisu's week finally turned around when the class discovered on Friday that something wonderful was about to happen.

"As all of you have been expecting by now, by next Friday, we're going to have our annual class vacation."

The entire class exploded into a state of anarchy like they didn't have to study for the rest of their lives. Everyone from left and right began talking about their plans for the rest of their lives to hang out, have fun, and be kids. This was all before the teacher had to take control of the class again.

"The student council decided we will be going to the beach. We'll leave Friday and come back Sunday. Is that all good?" Most agreed, but some girls began to burst into tears as they couldn't spend more time with Tamaki, Kyoya, Mori, and Hunny. Haruhi tried to alleviate the situation.

"You have me, Hikaru, and Kaoru to hang out with," Haruhi smiled as graciously as she could. One of the girls responded with a glare.

"You're not Tamaki and you never will be!" she choked in tears and left the room. The teacher then sent Haruhi to go retrieve her from the bathroom, and the class was left to ponder on how much fun it will be with half of the host club going along. Some girls begged the teacher to ask the other half to come along, but others simply got upset and those girls too dashed out to the bathroom.

All of this explained how Haruhi ended up on the beach on a bright sunny day and still remained number one in her first-year class. She wasn't used to this luxury but treated it like her home nonetheless. One thing had stayed the same since she visited Arisu shooting her commercial.

Haruhi looked over to discover that Arisu was the only girl not wearing a swimsuit. What she had on was what one girl described enviously, was a summer dress by some Italian designer Haruhi had never heard of nor could she remember. However, she did remember one girl looked up the price and found that it was an affordable two-thousand dollars.

Some of the other guys began to play a game of Frisbee, and as Haruhi noticed obviously, they were trying to get Arisu's attention. It made Haruhi wonder what it was about her that Hikaru and Kaoru didn't like. It seemed like Arisu would be exactly the type of girl they were looking for: pretty, confident, and had great skin.

"Haruhi!" the twins blocked her sunlight. "Let's go the bat cave!"

"The rumors say that Batman comes out of that tunnel over there!" Hikaru pointed to the cave at the end of the beach.

"Let's go find out!" Kaoru grinned as the two grabbed Haruhi's arms and prepared to drag her off with some of the other host club customers and other guys. Haruhi stopped for a moment and wanted to call out to Arisu.

"We should get her to come along too," Haruhi suggested.

"Why?" Hikaru asked.

"There's no need to. We have plenty of people," Kaoru glanced at the ten other people going with them.

"The more the merrier?" she turned around. "ARISU!" The young model flipped her head around in the most childish manner and smiled at Haruhi. Haruhi took a quick glance at Hikaru and Kaoru to find that they were several feet ahead of her. It made her wonder about what really happened between the twins and Arisu. They both played it off like nothing happened but she was sure this wasn't the case.

Some of the girls were excited that Arisu was coming along but some of the girls didn't like that.

"I can't believe Haruhi is giving her that much attention. She's such a guy whore, like she needs ten of them around her," one of them whispered.

"I wish I was a guy whore," the other sighed. Arisu didn't pay any attention to such conversation as she felt very aware of the twins' presence and found it best to avoid them as much as possible. She even wondered to herself why she even came along if she knew they didn't even want to see her.

Even as they walked in and everyone was chattering on how the cave used to be a torture chamber used by Japanese tribes back in the 1400s, Arisu could not help but turn her head every once in a while to see where the twins would be.

"OHMIGAWD!" Hikaru's voice echoed in the cave. Everyone's heads turned to hear what was going on and before they knew it, a stream of bats flew toward them and everyone began to cuss, scream, and/or cry. People began to run in all directions in a maniac manner.

"My hair! They're going to make a nest out of my hair!" one of the girls cried as others tried to cover their head.

"I heard they're vampire bats!!!" another guy warned. That evoked more screaming and running as little did they realize until it was too late, the cave became a maze that was perfect for students get lost in and all of them were separated. Being the girls that they were, Haruhi and Arisu got lost in the madness.

And, before Arisu realized before it was too late, she recalled vampire bats lived only in the tropics in South America and bats don't make a nest out of human hair. She sighed wondering how she ended up in this situation and that her Gucci dress wasn't made for cave adventures.

She looked around and called out for some people's names. "Haruhi!" "Hikari!" "Kazuki!" "Shiro!" She frowned. She had no idea which way was the way in or out. Light shone through holes that were found at the cave's ceiling so she figured the noise she heard outside told her that she could be heading in the right direction. She also wondered why she didn't bring her cell phone with her.

"Arisu!" she heard her name echoed in the cave. She looked around to find the source of the voice but then wondered if it could be a stalker. She walked away from where she believed the voice could be until she heard again. "Arisu! Wait up!" She looked again to find a Hitachiin emerge from the darkness. Arisu smiled feebly and had her arms crossed, unsure how to respond.

"Which one am I?" he grinned. Arisu shrugged. She really didn't know nor did she feel like she wanted to care. "Oh come on, you got it right last time," he laughed. For some reason, she felt the laugh to be insincere so she shrugged again. "So how do we get out of here?"

"I'm walking this way," she replied cautiously.

"How come no one seems to have a cell phone on them?" he complained. "It seems like everyone got eaten up by that creature. We better hurry."

"A what?" Arisu's eyes widened.

"A creature," he stared at her for a while with a serious look but then broke into a charming laugh that made him incredibly cute. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we better not ruin that dress of yours."

"No, it's fine. This can be replaced," Arisu continued on her path stepping on an uneven path of rock and dirt. She suddenly tripped when the Hitachiin grabbed her arm preventing her legs from scraping the ground. "Thanks..." she smiled slightly and was able to stand firmly on her feet. "...Kaoru...right?"

He seemed to have hesitated to respond but slowly, his surprised reaction broke into a very subtle smile. "Yeah." Incredibly distracted by his smile, she tripped again and he quickly held onto her arm again.

"Sorry!" she apologized profusely. "I shouldn't have worn these. Look, I already broke the strap," she sighed holding up one of the flip-flops.

"Wear mine," he said handing one of his flip-flops. "Don't worry about it. I stole them from Haruhi's dad." Seeing that her feet didn't really quite fit into the flip-flop and that she nearly stumbled again, Kaoru held out his hand. "Just hold onto my hand," Kaoru offered. Arisu glanced at him, hesitant to take his hand. He smiled. "Come on. Hikaru isn't here." Reluctantly, she accepted and oddly found the ground to be more stable than it was before despite the terrain being the same.

Arisu felt the warmth of his hand and almost felt her mini-fantasy coming true. This was the Kaoru she saw from the distance and as she hoped, this was the person she half-expected him to be. He was kind, funny, and didn't behave like he had a stick up his ass.

The two didn't say anything for a long time and they continued to walk through the cave holding hands despite the ground becoming much more flat and smooth. She wondered when he was going to let go and she secretly wished that he would never let go of her hand even if they found the entrance again.

She closed her eyes and pushed herself to say word she could only say if she was drunk. He had to hear it from her personally otherwise she was never going to be happy with just watching him from afar.

"Kaoru, I like you. I'm sorry," Arisu attempted to pull her hand away from him but she couldn't find the strength to move her arm. Kaoru stopped walking and turned to see her with a surprised expression on his perfectly clear face. He didn't let go of her hand, which she thought, must be a good sign.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" he smiled almost sadly. "You can't help what you're feeling," he looked away for a moment. "There's this other girl..."

She felt her heart began to fall. She knew news like this would not sink in until later and she began to feel her knees begin to waiver even before he could continue.

"...it's not what you think...don't tell anyone this," he said. "There's this girl that Hikaru and I liked but I'd rather see him be with her."

"She's really lucky," Arisu spoke quietly with a grim look on her face.

After a moment in silence, Kaoru still held onto her hand as if he needed support to say what he was about to say. Arisu closed her eyes expecting the very worst and promised herself not to cry in front of him.

"You have guts, seriously," he said slowly. "How do I say this...Arisu, I'm not in a place right now to like someone. That girl Hikaru and I liked, she was the first girl I ever really liked." Arisu nodded pretending to understand even though she didn't want to. She wondered if the jealous demon in her would spring out of her eyes and swallow Kaoru whole. Then, Kaoru began to stammer wondering what to say next.

"I understand if you need time. It's your life," Arisu whispered. In truth, she didn't want to accept the situation and she didn't understand what was going on. It killed her deeply that another girl had gotten to him before her. It didn't help either that he still had his hand around hers.

"How about if we go on a date?" Kaoru asked. "Can we do that? We won't have any obligations...just a simple date." Arisu's eyes widened with surprise. "I don't know. It's like this...I didn't see you that way before, but I can't seem to ignore you either."

"Umm...a date sounds good," she said as calmly as possible. She felt her sunken heart began to slightly rise. "Yeah, a date is alright," she repeated to herself. Kaoru finally let go of her hand and instead placed an arm around her shoulders in a manner that she saw him do to Haruhi. It wasn't a gesture that said they were in a relationship, but she was more than thrilled he was comfortable around her.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to type this up. I had severe writer's block and had TONS of tests this past two weeks. Anyhow, there'll probably be two more chapters after this before I close up. Thanks so much for your continuing support D and please keep the reviews coming yay. Oh yeah, and the song for this chapter comes from Alicia Keys! I love Alicia Keys. 


	7. Stupid For You

Chapter 7: Stupid For You

Arisu was shaken awake from her sleep. She only recalled falling asleep at around three in the morning when some of the girls decided it would be fun to watch stand-up comedies for two hours. Her head was still hurting from the lack of sleep when she turned around to find the time since it was still dark out.

She reached out to grab her cell phone, but her hand was covered and she was forced to get out of her bed.

"Renge?" she asked. The shadow made a quiet gesture that told her not to make too much noise and when the two stepped out into the hallway, she was suddenly snapped awake with the mess of dark brown-red hair she had come to recognize from a mile away. "Hi," she blinked with the look of someone about to be murdered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," he smiled weakly.

"What time is it?" Arisu looked around.

"Don't worry about that. Hikaru and I got into a fight," Kaoru admitted. Arisu crossed her arms shifting idly with her feet. "I had to tell him that we're going to hang out and that he couldn't be with us. I had to, he's my brother..." seeing how distressed he was, Arisu could only hold onto herself even more. What was she suppose to do? Was she suppose to give him a pat on the back and send him back to his room so she could sleep some more?

After a few moments, Kaoru went through long sentences of expletives between every other word and then apologized.

"It's good for the both of us, I think. He needs to have time for him and the girl he wants. If he's with me all the time, he's not going to know how to choose. That was the mistake I made," realizing what he said, he suddenly covered his mouth. "I'm sorry." Arisu shook her head pretending that it didn't bother her as much as she knew it did.

But she had to ask this question: "Am I just a distraction then?" She wondered if she would've asked this bold of a question if she was fully awake.

But what was she kidding. She was fully awake for sure around this boy.

"I don't know yet," he whispered. The two stood there in silence for a few more moments until she asked him:

"Do you want to go for a walk?" It seemed to relieve the tension since he nodded immediately. The two walked out of the villa without saying a word and without thinking, she followed Kaoru down the steps to the sandy dunes leading up to the ocean.

"Have you ever been to the beach at night?" he asked.

"Yeah, for a photo shoot," Arisu replied. "I'm not much of a beach person. It's too dirty."

"How about a swimming pool?"

"Only my own swimming pool. I don't know what's in other people's swimming pools. And I'm sure people have pissed in the school's swimming pools."

Kaoru began to laugh and Arisu smiled seeing that she was able to make him happy at least for a few moments. "Are you serious?" She nodded. "Let's go over there to those rocks. It won't be that long until the sun starts to rise." Arisu shook her head.

"My dress is going to get wet," she looked at the water depth. "It's not meant for the water." Kaoru rolled his eyes and without warning took off his shirt, which made her heart skip a beat. She couldn't see that much of him so she felt it wasn't that bad to see what he would do next. "I'm kidding, I can go into the water." She changed her mind.

"No, that wouldn't be a good idea," Kaoru laughed. She remembered that was the laugh that captured her heart when she first met him and she couldn't help but smile cheerfully despite the fact she may possibly be nothing more than a distraction for him. "Hold this?" he handed her his shirt, and without thinking she took it, having quick thoughts of possibly framing it on her bedroom wall. However, she thought that might be a bit creepy. "Get on my back."

"What?"

"Do you like me or what?" he grinned. If it were any male model, she'd frown wondering if he was taking advantage of her. She wanted to look into his eyes but it was still a bit too dark to tell. .His voice was all that she had. "Get on." Arisu quickly jumped on his back as he caught her and headed into the water.

To her embarrassment and surprise, the water wasn't deep at all. It only went to Kaoru's ankles as she began to feel bad for making Kaoru do this. She could have just lifted her dress and there would have been no problem.

"I didn't know it was that shallow. You can put me down if you want," Arisu apologized. Kaoru's body language showed no sign of putting her down as he continued to walk toward the rocks. "Or not." She felt him laugh and before he got on the rocks, he put her down. "You didn't have to do that. You could have said the water wasn't deep."

"I could have..." he said wistfully and climbed onto the rocks ahead of her. "Do you need help?"

"No, I could do this in high heels," she shook her head and followed after. When they made it to the top, she could finally see the outlines of his facial features and the skies became a little more blue. It only took them several steps to make it to the top of the rocks when the surface became smoother. Arisu wasn't sure how far to sit away from him since she wasn't sure if they were just friends or possibly something else. But as Renge said, she could only live once and Renge never lived by the basis of 'what ifs'. So, she sat as close to him as a lover would do, but felt as nervous as when she started her first day of elementary school.

"You do realize, if we do go out, I can't work in the Host Club anymore," Kaoru began.

"Your mom wouldn't want me as a model anymore," Arisu added.

"No, my mom would never fire you. She cares about you more as a model than as a person."

"Oh."

Kaoru laughed again, and Arisu was sure her heart would become nothing more than a muscle of goo by the time the sun rose. She couldn't put into words how happy she was that she was this close to Kaoru by the beach. It was the perfect romantic moment, but it felt restrained by so many things. But the fact that it was so fragile, that anything could spoil the moment was what made it so emotionally exhausting for her.

"What else is there?" Arisu asked.

"Umm, Hikaru would probably not talk to me at all for a few days."

"A few?"

"I could say a few months, but Hikaru won't last that long not talking to me. We're twins, that's just how it is," he sighed but in a more lightly, upbeat tone. "He doesn't like you that much, you know, but that's not your fault."

"Would it be important to you if he did?"

"He will. I'm not worried about that." Kaoru then wrapped his knees with his arms. "Are you still up for the date?"

"Date," she repeated almost stupidly as she realized that this dream could actually become a reality. "Yeah," she smiled feeling the sky begin to burn a brighter blue. "Today, you mean?"

"The whole day. I'm doing this for my brother too, so he also has a chance," Kaoru said seriously.

"She's in our class, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

There was no one that Arisu could possibly believe that Kaoru and Hikaru had a crush on. She wanted Kaoru to want to tell her but the last twenty-four hours was an emotional overkill. It would be too much for her to ask him who it could be and she certainly didn't want to turn into the typical high school busybody. After all, she did tell herself many times that she liked Kaoru more than other girls did, right?

"I. Am. So-o. Jealous," Arisu grinned trying to play off the extreme emotions. She then noticed that Kaoru was staring at her with a curious subtle smile to his face. Before she could have any secret hopes if he was going to try to kiss her or not, he looked away at the sun that was beginning to rise.

"I think I could like you too," he muttered quickly like he didn't want anyone else to hear them.

Arisu didn't know what to say. It must have been an hour later, but it probably was only a few minutes, she began to relax and Kaoru leaned back with his arms against the rocks. The two didn't say a word as the sun finally came up, and the gulls began to circle in the air. They stayed there until they heard the first human voices calling for them to come back to shore where everyone else was waiting, having fun as high school children would, and wanting to find out what had happened while they were asleep.

-The End-

* * *

YAY I did it D! I finished my first OC fanfiction ever. I hope you guys liked it, seriously. This was so much fun at the same time so hard to write. Please tell me what you guys think about this as a whole. It'd be nice to hear all sorts of feedback since it took me forever to complete this. Thanks for bearing with me D! You can read the next part, but if you don't want to, then please a review and let me know your thoughts on this. (Stupid For You is sung by Marie Digby. Listen to it if you get the chance to!) 

So, I want to talk a bit (if that's OK) on how I came up with this. I read several of the OC fanfiction in the Ouran section and seeing how much fun it looked like, I wanted to write one too.

A lot of people said that Arisu was really different from a lot of the other OCs and I felt that this was because Arisu didn't nearly have half as much pre-story development as other OCs had. Arisu doesn't have a complicated past and her family isn't involved. The first factor was that she was already a student at Ouran so there's no story of her being a transfer student and running into the host club. She was already aware of the host club from the beginning like every girl was but didn't want much part of it because of her job commitments and that she didn't want Kaoru to find out she had a crush on her. Of course, the moment she did visit, Kyoya automatically knew she liked Kaoru.

A second and major factor is that she was kept in the dark the entire time about Haruhi's gender. I just felt it wasn't important for her to find out that Haruhi was a girl. The story was about her falling in love with Kaoru so Haruhi was more of a plot device.

The third factor I thought contributed to her 'uniqueness' or whatever was that she couldn't tell the twins apart at the beginning. I thought the biggest turnoff every time I read an OC was that she could tell the twins apart immediately. I thought that that trait should solely belong to Haruhi since she was the first to ever do that. I thought as the story progresses, if Arisu is thrown into more situations with the two, she will be able to distinguish them more easily even if she's still not confident about it. That's why that even in the cave scene, she needed Kaoru to talk for a while before she could figure out which twin she was talking to AND needed a hint to get it right.

So basically, I wanted to keep it simple. She's a rich kid growing up as a model working under Yuzuha's fashion line. This gives her the opportunity to meet Hikaru and Kaoru. I wanted her goal of getting to Kaoru be as frustrating as possible. Since she's a model, she knows she's prettier than most of the girls in her school but that doesn't stop the twins from seeing her as another girl.

And why she prefers Kaoru over Hikaru should be obvious by now. Kaoru's personality is definitely more mellow than Hikaru's. Hikaru would not give her any chances but Kaoru would. And after what you've read of her, there's no way she could handle Hikaru's personality. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this and thanks again for reading!


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